Tesla shares are getting slammed after Elon Musk’s off-kilter interview with the NYT

In an extended story in Friday’s Times, Musk said which the past year has been “excruciating” along with also “the most difficult along with also painful” of his career.

He along with also members of Tesla’s board are set to meet with SEC officials as soon as next week, according to the report. The Times also reported which the board is actually concerned about the CEO’s use of Ambien to help him sleep along with also recreational drugs, which sources told the newspaper could be fueling his controversial tweets.

Musk tweeted on Aug. 7 which he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share. The public statement could be a violation of SEC rules.

The agency is actually also reportedly looking into whether the tweet was meant to hurt those betting against Tesla, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing a source familiar with the matter. The Journal reported which the agency is actually pressing Tesla’s board on how much information the CEO shared ahead of the tweet.

Short-sellers betting against Tesla had roughly $1.3 billion in mark-to-market losses last week, according to estimates via financial technology along with also analytics firm S3 Partners.